Light comes to Darkness HERO SIDE
by Milaya Milen Zeal
Summary: X, Zero and Axl are sent to Gate's old lab to stop Mavericks from tearing the place apart, but they stumble across something they never would've expected. [Non-Yaoi, unlike its counterpart]
1. Oddities

**Right, this story is similar to "Darkness comes to Light", only the roles are reversed, and this story doesn't contain any yaoi, not even with my brothers. I'm trying to cut back a bit. It might seem REALLY the same as DctL, but trust me, it's not. In any case, let's get going.**

* * *

**_Light comes to Darkness_**

**Chapter 1 X's POV: Oddities**

MHHQ is always busy this time of the day, and today is no exception. Everyone's up and about, doing this or that, trying not to run into each other in the meantime. To any viewer, it would've been hilarious, but to me, it's lost its fun. I admit, once or twice, it's okay, but seeing people crash into each other about twenty times a day, that's a little too much. Even Zero's starting to complain about it, so hey, it really must be getting boring.

Sometimes, I wonder about that guy. Really. There's little we know about his past, and if I have to believe Zero, he doesn't even remember himself. If you ask me, he knows plenty but refuses to tell anyone, even me! I doubt he's even told Iris.

Oh yeah… Iris. Totally forgot about her. Damn it. I don't know what it is about her, but something about her just… it ticks me off. Of course, I don't let it show (most of the times). I didn't even show my anger at her snatching _my_ best friend away from me. Because that's practically what she did.

The second Zero saw her, all his attention was focussed on her, and he just seemed to forget about me. I tried to get his attention again, but all that bozo saw was her! And of course, she noticed him looking and smiled at us, or more at him actually. She then walked over and started talking to Zero, acting like I wasn't even there. I swear, I could've shouted at the top of my lungs and Zero wouldn't have heard me.

So, well, I left.

Easy as that. I left.

He never noticed me leave. And once I managed to find him again, which was about a week later, he seemed to have plainly forgotten I exist at all. He ignored me as I sat down next to him outside of HQ, simply staring up at the sky with a look I couldn't describe. He didn't even respond when I called out his name. Only when I clocked him to his head did he finally acknowledge me.

"Hey, X! What the hell was that for?!" he demanded, rubbing his sore head.

Okay, usually, I don't get angry at Zero. I can take his crap better than others can, but right now, I felt as though he was purposely ripping me apart. If I find out he did it on purpose, I'll seriously mangle him up during his sleep! Can't kill the guy, don't know why.

But like I said, Zero was, of course, totally clueless about why I clocked him, so I got angry. Really angry. I mean, be rational people, if your best friend ignores you for a week, and he doesn't acknowledge you when you talk to him, you hit him, and then he has the nerve to ask why you clocked him, wouldn't you be pissed? Yeah, I figured as much.

But I caught him off guard by getting angry, which I never do unless it involves Mavericks. I started shouting at him, and he stared at me as I did, mouth agape and his eyes wide at my anger. I practically shot up form my seat to tower out above Zero, showing him that no amount of words was going to calm me down.

I screamed at him, whatever I had screamed, I don't know, it's hard to grasp now, but whatever it was, Zero tried to butt in multiple times. Saying stuff like "X, calm down", or "X, listen to me". And I would shout stuff back like "No I won't calm down", or "No! You listen to _me_!" Stuff like that you know.

But even though I was angry with him, I was hurt even more. Years ago, we vowed to always be best friends no matter what happened, and now Zero had practically thrown that all out the window by ignoring me completely.

So, once I was finished, I waited for Zero to speak up, to say _anything _to reassure me that he still wanted to be my friend. That he didn't want to wash it all down the drain. But I half-expected him to be angry with me for blowing up on him in the first place.

But he did nothing.

Nothing.

No reassuring words, no tantrum, no nothing.

Minutes passed, but when ten had passed, and he still hadn't done anything, I did the worst thing I could ever do; I broke the promise myself.

"Know what, Zero? If you appreciate Iris' company more than mine, than you can forget about us being friends at all! I don't even want to be your partner anymore!!"

That got a reaction. He gasped and shot up, grabbing my shoulders in his hands.

"X, listen already!!"

"NO!!! LET ME GO!!! LET GO!!!!" I screamed, and kicked him, hard.

Zero doubled over, and I took that moment to run. Back to HQ, to the safety of my room, ignoring Zero's desperate calls to get me to stop. Once I got into my room, I immediately changed the code to my room, making sure Zero couldn't come in at all.

My breathing was erratic as I leaned against the door, needing something to keep me to my feet. Usually, it would be Zero keeping me up, but now he was no longer there. And it was my own damn fault. I really started to regret what I did, but I knew I had no way to turn it back around.

If I could, I would've, but the fact was, I couldn't.

Somehow, I don't remember how, I found my way to my bed, and collapsed, letting loose all the tears I had been holding in. I curled up, pulling a pillow close to my chest. I buried my face in it, trying to picture it being Zero's shoulder instead. Whenever I needed to let it all out, Zero always pulled me to him and let me cry on his shoulder. I needed that now. Very much so.

I staid there for so long, and I stopped trying to figure out just how long I'd been there. I didn't get up to eat, nor did I manage to sleep. Whenever I tried, I woke up moments later, not feeling any rested, and instead, feeling more tired than before.

The pain tearing through my body was something I couldn't bear, and I really needed Zero here. I needed him so much, that I searched my entire room for _anything_ with Zero's scent on him. Somewhere around my room, I managed to find one of his old shirts, and, thank god, it still had his scent all over it. I pulled it over my head, not caring if it was too big for me, and finally managed to fall asleep, his scent having that big an effect on me. I was burning up, but I couldn't care.

I dreamed of him. I dreamed of when things were the way they had been before that argument. I was in his arms, crying in his shoulder again, and he was whispering to me that everything would be all right, that it was okay…

I slept for a long time, just laying there, wrapped up in his scent, how I wanted things to be again. A small part of my mind told me that was impossible however, that I'd lost him for good and could never get him back again, all because I couldn't control my temper.

I told it to take a hike.

Whenever I ran out of scent, I desperately searched for him, almost begging him not to leave me alone, going into a crazed frenzy. And whenever I found him, I would fall back into my dreamy state, just drinking in his scent. A/N: A friend of mine did this when she and her boyfriend broke up

I didn't respond to anyone coming to my room, begging me to come out. It was always Alia, Signas, or Douglas coming to me to try and get me out of my room, but I wanted neither of them. I wanted Zero, goddamnit!! But I don't think they understood, and they kept trying.

Yet I remained in a state in between sleep and awareness, unable to distinguish dreams from reality, and vice versa. I simply hovered in that state, basking entirely in Zero's scent, begging silently for whatever was up there to bring him back to me.

My prayers were soon answered.

A soft knock sounded from the door, but like so many other times, I ignored it. But when it came again, and no words came, I took notice that the knock was hesitant, as if whoever was on the other side was nervous about something. Slowly, I rolled over on the bed, staring at the door, still clutching Zero's shirt in my grasp, as if I could open it from a distance and see who was so hesitant about seeing me. When a voice finally came, it was just as hesitant and nervous.

"X? Are you up? I… I really need to talk to you."

My breath hitched slightly, as I slowly pushed myself up.

"…Zero??" I murmured, almost ready to get up again.

It took a few seconds for him to answer again… and it sounded like he was really nervous about talking to me.

"Y-yeah… it's me… please, open the door, X…"

"……O… okay…"

I stumbled up from the bed, slowly making my way to the door, still holding his shirt tightly. It seemed to take an eternity to reach the door, but somehow, I managed and opened the door. He stood there, looking down at the floor, before turning his face up to look at me. He really looked nervous about something.

"Hey," was all he managed to get out.

I couldn't even speak, because it was almost too much seeing him stand there. I almost threw myself at him back then, but I was wiser than that. The urge was there though.

"C-can I come in?"

I gulped down whatever was blocking my throat, and just managed a small nod. I stepped aside so that he could enter, and once he was inside, I closed the door again. I turned to him, clutching his shirt to my chest like it was the only thing left keeping me alive.

Zero gulped a little nervously, before he turned to face me.

"Look, X, about Iris…"

I shook rather clearly, trying to stay on my feet, but almost unable to. My grip on his shirt only tightened as Zero seemed to weigh his words carefully.

"X… there's nothing going on between her and me. I just… I just had the strangest feeling like I saw her somewhere before. Like… like… uh… oh heck… I'm not good with this…"

I managed a slight giggle at Zero's frustration, and that seemed to lighten the mood just a little bit.

"X… look… I'm sorry about what happened, but I just needed to figure out where I saw Iris before, and… well…"

Zero looked around for a moment, as if he expected there to be cameras somewhere. Alright, now I was curious, and I think it showed.

Zero pulled out a picture from his pocket, and held it out to me, whispering: "Check _this_ out!"

I gingerly took the picture from him with slightly shaking hands, took one look at the picture… and could barely contain my laughter. Zero seemed to enjoy it as well and walked up to beside me.

"Just happened to walk past the book-store. Was lying right in front of me."

I smiled, first smile in days probably, I don't know, but at the moment, I couldn't really care. The most important thing was that Zero was there, with me. That was the only thing that mattered to me at the moment.

But he saw I'd been crying, and he seemed to know that he was the cause of my tears. So, he did what he usually did whenever I cried; namely, he embraced me and just held me.

He said nothing, but I didn't need any of it. I just needed _him_.

That was about… 10 months ago, and we're back to being best friends at the moment. Zero was being plagued by Iris time and time again, but he kept brushing her off if he was talking to me.

But anyway, that's over and done with now, and at the moment, there wasn't much for me to do. Zero's in his room, taking care of some paperwork that's due this afternoon. He always does that stuff at the last moment, don't ask why, I don't know. I always tell him to do it the second he gets it, but he just refuses to listen. Don't really blame him; he's always been one hell of a stubborn prick.

Like I already said, a lot of people are calm at this time of the day, and nobody expects the Mavericks to attack. The last Maverick attack had been two days ago, so everyone knew they had to recuperate. I did too, but I couldn't be too sure of anything nowadays. Gate already told me (he managed to recover, but he's still in custody) that there was a mysterious aura surrounding his lab when he had gotten there from the Eurasia crash-site, but he had found nothing when examining it.

Gate seems to trust me now, after I managed to knock some sense into him. Alia seems to like him, very much so. I don't blame her. Gate's a nice guy, it's just that he's been a crazy psycho because of Zero's DNA. How'd that even happen?

But I long ago decided to just drop it.

As I already said, people weren't expecting an attack… and three guesses what happened.

Right, we got attacked. And not just by any old Maverick. It wasn't anyone we knew (and I'm thinking of Sigma here shudder), but they seemed to have a clear goal at hand.

They were attacking Gate's old lab.

Even though it had been meant to be destroyed, people ended up rebuilding it instead. And by the looks of it, the Mavericks didn't like the idea.

Zero, Axl and myself were sent to take them out. About Axl though… can't say I hate him, but I just don't like him… I don't know… he's just… just too much like the way _I_ used to be before the very first Maverick War… I don't want him to become what I have become.

Still, a job is a job, so we headed out, destroying any Maverick we might encounter. It was rather odd though…those Mavericks weren't really attacking anything in particular. They just seemed to be looking for something.

"This is crazy!" Zero mumbled. "What the heck are those guys looking for?!"

"No idea," I said. "But whatever they're looking for can't be good when they get their dirty claws on it."

Axl was silent, unable to add anything to it, for the moment. As we moved on, it became apparent that there was something wrong, but what?

After several minutes of non-stop walking and destroying Mavericks, we come to an area that was completely abandoned. I easily recognized the place as where we had battled Gate. Strangely enough, there was no one around, which seemed rather odd, as the entire place was otherwise crowded with Mavericks.

"All right, NOW where are those damned bastards!?" Zero demanded.

"Maybe they all went somewhere else?" Axl offered and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that.

That surely didn't make any sense. I made a move to walk again -- only to find my foot was stuck in the ground.

"What the?!" I cried out, trying to pull my leg loose again, but no such luck.

"X?! What the heck is--?!"

"I don't know alright?! Just get me out of here!!"

Both Axl and Zero began to help me yank my foot out, but it didn't help at all. In fact, I seemed to be sinking further and further into the ground. But even so, we wouldn't stop and just kept trying.

"Crud, this isn't helping!" Zero mumbled. "I'm gonna--ACK!!"

I whirled around, and noticed Zero's foot was also stuck. Uh-oh…

I looked down at myself and paled when I saw I was nearly waist-deep. Hurriedly, I placed my hands on the ground and tried to push myself out. Now there was an idea that backfired as my arms passed through the ground, and it sent me through the ground, tumbling down a massive tube of some kind. I cried out in fright as multiple bright flashes nearly blinded me.

Luckily, it was over within a few seconds, and I crash-landed face-first onto the ground.

"OW!!!"

That smart…

Shaking my head drearily, I slowly stood again. Note to self; never do something like that again. …Whatever that was in the first place.

As my vision began to return, I looked around a bit, before my eyes widened in horror.

Wherever I was, I wasn't in Gate's lab anymore. The place was more like some sort of massive warehouse for Ride Armors, but most of the Armors were busted, badly. I looked up, and noticed the darkened skies through a massive hole in the ceiling of wherever I was, but I knew that didn't make any sense. The sun was still out, I could easily tell, as the clouds didn't hide the sun very well. But even so, the sky was darker than I remembered.

I could only watch the sky for a few moments, before I started to move, having already confirmed I was alone. I suspected Zero and Axl had ended up somewhere else. Now I just had to find them. Which could take some time, as I had no idea where to go.

As I walked, I noticed whoever used to live her had a rather bad house-painter. All the walls were dark-red with splotches of black on them. Like someone had chucked several gallons of black paint all over the walls, instead of trying to actually paint. Shaking my head sadly at the people's poor choice of painter, I continued walking, paying close attention to my surroundings. But I found nothing and no one.

And the entire place was just too quiet…

Click clunk-kachunk!

So needless to say, I could easily heard someone jamming a cartridge into something I could only suspect as a gun. The second I heard the loud bang, I dived to the ground, the shot barely missing me and smashing into a few barrels a bit further ahead. I couldn't help but gulp.

Looks like I'd been wrong about no one being here.

"Get up from the ground and put your hands on your head!!" a voice shouted from behind me.

The voice held a slight Irish accent, but nevertheless, it wasn't a voice you should disobey, so I slowly pushed up from the ground, and put my hands behind my head. But even if I did, I had my Buster set for silent charge, with my hand still out. No sense in alarming the guy before I could get a shot in.

"Good. Identify yourself."

I took a deep breath, knowing this was going to be messy.

"Mega Man X, Commander of the 17th Unit of Maverick Hunters."

Silence.

Dead silence.

I didn't bother to move, waiting for the guy to speak again. I still didn't have my charge ready, so it'd take a little longer. So I guess the best idea would be to stall.

Finally though, the guy spoke again.

"You're yanking my chain, aren't you?!" he demanded angrily.

"Why should I?" I questioned simply. "I don't think I have a reason to."

Before he could come up with another response though, I whirled around, pulling out my Buster and releasing the massive bolt of plasma I'd been charging for. With a yelp of surprise, the guy leaped to the sky, almost easily avoiding the blast. I could only vaguely make anything out, and only just managed to avoid the two blasts of plasma sent my way.

Whoever this guy was, he was good. Smashing into the ground, he instantly sent several bursts of plasma straight at me, making me yelp and leap aside. I sent a level two bolt at him, followed by several level one shots. The guy easily cartwheeled away, and flipped back several times, easily avoiding each of my shots.

Like I said, he was good.

…And a lot better than I was.

I cried out in pain as he suddenly had me pinned to the ground, balancing on my chest and Buster-arm. I also got the barrel of a blackhawk aimed at my face.

"Gotcha," the guy said, a cocky grin on his face.

That was when it registered who I was looking at.

"Wha?! Axl!?!?"

The guy standing on top of me really _did_ look like Axl, but he was still different. Instead of green eyes, the guy's eyes were grayish-blue, his hair was dark red instead of orange, and his armor was a lot darker than I remembered. That, and he seemed to have grown a couple of feet.

The Axl-lookalike snickered a bit, keeping the blackhawk aimed at me.

"Don't push your luck with me next time. You might just find yourself retired."

Huh?? That really didn't make any sense. What did quitting my job have to do with this?!

But uh… I didn't really enjoy having that gun aimed at me. I gulped a bit, not daring to look away from the gun for even a second.

I don't know how long that lasted but at a certain point…

"Hey whoa! Axl! Hold up!!" a voice called out, making the guy look up in surprise.

"…Oh, Red. What do you want?" he asked, and I just managed to turn my head to look at whoever this 'Red' was.

When I saw him, I blinked a bit. 'Cos the only thing red about him was his hair.

He had a light blue jumpsuit with darker blue armor that became lighter when nearing the joints (ankles and wrists). The chest armor's top was dark blue, while the lower half was lighter. The shoulderpad on his right shoulder had an Omega emblem on it, while the one on his left shoulder bore a stylized "CS". On his left forearm and his left shin (both on the left side) were large scars that stopped short 2 inches away from his ankles/wrists and knees/elbows. Across his chest from his right shoulder down the left side of his waist, runs a large scar that was about an inch deep, if I judged that correctly. His helmet was the same color as his armor, and a triangular glass-like visor I couldn't look through partially shielded his face.

And like I said, the only thing red about him was his hair, which was tied back in a ponytail and ended near his thighs.

"Axl, get off him. I just might have an idea of what's going on around here," he said calmly.

The guy on top of me narrowed his eyes, before suddenly leaping up, compressing my chest a bit, leaving me gasping for breath as he flipped back and landed on his feet.

"All right, but don't expect me to trust this guy."

"Wasn't expecting you too, kid."

"Yeah, whatever."

The guy with blue armor chuckled a bit, then walked over to me.

"Sorry 'bout the rude welcome," he said, pulling me up to my feet.

I blinked, twice, then asked: "Who… who are you guys?"

"I guess that would help a lot, huh? I'm Red Chaos Mage, Head-Commander of the Chaos Shadows. And I'm sure you already met Axl."

I looked over to 'Axl', who snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, still clutching the blackhawk in his hand. I shuddered a bit when locking eyes with his cold orbs, and right now, I'd very much prefer the Axl I got to know at MHHQ.

"Uh… yeah… but uh… where are we?" I asked.

"I'm suspecting, that you, mister, are here from a world parallel to ours," Red said calmly, as if talking about the weather.

…………………

Had I been able to, I would've had a heart attack, but as it was, I simply froze up, staring at him.

"Excuse me?!?!"

"Let's head to MHHQ first. Zeal's going to have a field day with this."

"Who??"

"You'll see."


	2. Strange

**Chapter 2 Zero's POV: Strange**

God, MHHQ is so goddamn boring this time of day! It's always busy, and no one is paying any attention to anyone, which is why everyone keeps bumping into others. Usually, I'm not one to complain about it all, as I rather enjoy seeing people crash to the ground and break their tailbones, but 20 times a day is just far too much for me. Yeah, X's been complaining about it as well, but then again, he complains way more than me.

X… he confuses me sometimes. He's a real enigma, and I don't like those things. They always force you to see every piece of the puzzle before you're able to understand what the puzzle means. And well, whenever I think I understand X, another piece of the puzzle appears before me and makes me all confused. But strangely, with X, I don't mind trying to puzzle everything together. I don't have that much patience, everyone knows that, but with X, I can seemingly wait forever. People find that strange, especially Iris.

Oh, right… Iris. Totally forgot about her. Oh don't get me wrong, I have nothing against her! But she's just too cheery for me. Too… sugary sweet. Yuck. But X seemed to dislike her as well. Yes, I figured out X didn't like Iris ever since we first met her. I didn't think too much of it back then, but now, I wish I had.

Second I saw that girl, I couldn't get my eyes off her, because I had the strangest sense of recognition. I don't know what it was, but she just seemed so familiar to me. X tried to get my attention again, but I _had_ to figure out where I saw her before. But she noticed me looking and she smiled, walking over to us. I doubt she even noticed X standing beside me. She talked to me for some time, before X suddenly stalked off. I could easily see the hitch in his step, and I knew I really ruined it.

After gingerly telling Iris I had to talk to X (and getting rid of her, which took some time), I went in search of that Blue Bomber. But no matter where I looked, I just couldn't find him. It just had me confused. X never walked away from anyone, no matter how embarrassing a conversation could get. So there was another piece I found and had to puzzle together.

But that's hard when you're working on two puzzles at the same time. But I still managed. About a week after the first meeting with Iris, I was sitting on a bench outside of MHHQ, thinking about those two puzzles again. Also, whenever I'm working on those things, I tend to ignore everything happening around me, which is most likely why I never noticed X sitting down beside me. So, well, when he clocked me, I was very much startled from my little 'trance'.

"Hey, X! What the hell was that for?!" I demanded, rubbing my sore head.

A little too late did I realize that was the wrong thing to say.

Retrospection… loathe it, really.

X shook violently and his face contorted in a deep frown. His eyes were sparking with both anger and unshed tears, as he practically shot up and started screaming at me. And that really caught me by surprise. He's never angry unless it concerns Mavericks, but I most likely pushed him over the edge.

I really tried to calm him down, but he kept interrupting me, telling me to listen to him. When he finally stopped yelling, I tried to think of what to say, but everything I'd tried to tell him escaped me. Just like that. I lost all the words I needed at the moment.

Minutes passed, and I could still not find the words I needed. But when ten minutes had passed, and neither of us had spoken a word, he broke the silence with the one thing I hadn't expected.

"Know what, Zero? If you appreciate Iris' company more than mine, than you can forget about us being friends at all! I don't even want to be your partner anymore!!"

That got a reaction from me. Years ago, we vowed to always be best friends no matter what happened, and now X was just going to throw it all out the window?! I gasped and shot up, grabbing his shoulders with my hands.

"X, listen already!!" I tried to reason with him

"NO!!! LET ME GO!!! LET GO!!!!"

Before I knew what happened, X had kicked me, hard. It caused me to double over, giving X the chance to run. I shouted after him to wait as he ran away, back to HQ. I knew it was hopeless to chase him though, but I still ran after him, hoping to stop him. But as I expected, it was impossible. Not only did he have too much of a head-start, he also locked himself up in his room, changing the code so I couldn't get in.

As I sighed, leaning against the door, I cursed softly.

Way to go, Zero.

Now what're you going to do, huh?

Well, the first thing I had to do, was give X some space. Let him cool down, you know. And in the meantime, I could actually get to work on the other puzzle.

And that's exactly what I did.

I spent hours trying to find anything revolving around Iris, but there was nothing anywhere. Not even on internet. The only thing _that_ said was that she was the sister of Colonel of Repliforce. So, needless to say, that didn't really help.

So I resorted to the next option I had on the list; walk around town and see if I could find the answer there.

Well hello?! You actually thought I was going to walk up to Iris and ask her?! Give me a break!

Anyway, that's how I got downtown, just searching for any sign I could find. I had a digital camera with me, just incase I found out just what I was looking for. Whatever that was.

I was just wearing some plain clothes, so it wasn't all that easy to figure out who I was. Even though my hair was most likely a clear giveaway. Nevertheless, I wasn't bothered by any of those annoying fangirls.

But in any case, I had just started walking past a bookstore… then stopped and walked back a few steps. I stared through the glass of the store for a few seconds, looking rather confused, before I walked inside.

'Well this is interesting…' was all I thought as I picked up the magazine.

I smirked and pulled out my camera. I quickly snapped a shot and left after putting the magazine back. I left the place as fast as I came in, and surprisingly, no one made a move to stop me.

I rushed off to HQ again, eager to get the photo printed. That's why I got myself a digital camera in the first place. All you gotta pay for with those photos, is ink and paper. Seriously, what more could you want?

But as I walked into HQ, I ran into trouble, in the shape of Alia. And if you know how she is, you know it's bad no matter what's it about. Not the news, but it's the fact that she won't shut up no matter how harsh you get.

And by the looks of it, she was pissed.

And that could only mean one thing; she couldn't talk to X.

"What did you do to him?!?!" she demanded, not beating around the bush.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I muttered, pushing past her without a second thought.

I didn't need any of this. Not at a time like this.

"Don't give me that shit, Zero!!"

I sighed softly. Looks like there's no such thing as rest for the weary.

"Alia, I don't have the time, so I'll talk to you later, goodnight."

And I vanished into my own room, closing and locking the door. She kept at it though, pounding on my door, but I simply attached my camera to the PC. I loaded several programs and started working. I picked up several snippets of Alia's one-sided conversation (seeing as I wasn't responding to her), while she pounded on my door.

"He won't respond to anyone!! So what the hell did you do?!?!"

Make a mistake, geez. I really wished she'd go away right now. But that's like wishing for the impossible.

The rest of her babble was mostly the same shit over and over, and I'm not going to repeat any of it. Instead, I cranked up some of my music-CD's, making sure to drone her out, but also to such degree that I couldn't go deaf.

It took some time, but she finally gave up. And just in time too. The second she left, my printer finally spat out the picture I had taken. I smirked as I pulled it out.

X was going to _love_ this!

I checked my wrist-watch, and noticed to my surprise that it had been 4 whole days since X had fled to the sanctuary of his own room. As I looked outside, I noticed it was getting late. Well, all for the better, I suppose. Because the later it got, the more people would go to bed. And X knew I wasn't one to apologize with everyone around. So, he was probably waiting for me to show up, or he fell asleep while doing so.

I chuckled at the thought, and decided to wait a few more hours, before going to see the Blue Bomber. If he was still awake.

By the time I decided to go, it was nearing midnight. There wouldn't be anyone else up at this hour, not even Alia or Signas. So, I quickly sneaked out of my room, the picture stuffed in my pocket, and rushed toward X's room.

I've been there so many times before, I could find my way there with a blindfold on and both hands tied behind my back. Not like I was planning on ever doing that, but it's just a figure of speech. For some reason, it seemed to take a lot longer to get to X's room, and it gave me some time to think.

How was I going to tell X why I'd been ignoring him? I know that I have a terrible way with words, and retrospection seems to have taken a liking in me. It keeps coming back no matter how hard I try not to let it. And no matter how many times I tell myself to think before I speak, I just have the tendency to blurt everything out. Hoping against hope, I just wanted to make sure that didn't happen now.

Either that, or it's three strikes and I'm out.

All too soon, I came to the destined door. And as I stood there, it dawned to me how nervous I was to talk to X again. Things could seriously go wrong if you're not careful, and in such situations, that was dangerous.

Once I managed to gulp down whatever was blocking my throat, I raised my fist, and hesitated at the last second. What if X didn't want to talk to me? What then?? Gathering my resolve, I finally managed to knock.

I didn't expect a response, and I didn't get one either. I waited for several moments, before knocking again. And again, I didn't get a response. So I tried to talk to him.

"X? Are you up? I… I really need to talk to you."

I hated the way my voice hitched, but I couldn't do anything about it.

"…Zero??"

…Well, here goes nothing.

"Y-yeah… it's me… please, open the door, X…"

I nervously cast my eyes to the floor, hoping he'll open the door, but I didn't hear a thing. It seemed to take an eternity, but the door finally opened, revealing the fragile figure of my best friend.

The sight of X had almost made me crumble to dust, that's practically how _crushed_ he looked. I doubt he even realized it, but his eyes were red and puffy from crying so much, and the tear-streaks on his face had yet to dry up. His skin was paler than I remembered seeing it four days ago, but he was still slightly flushed, his hair was ruffled even more than usual, and his clothes were a real mess.

Speaking of which… he was also clutching one of my old shirts against him, like it was his last hope for survival.

Heartbreaking… really.

"Hey," was all that managed to get out of my mouth.

X seemed almost ready to just break apart any second, and it tore me up to see him like that. Once again gathering my resolve, I opened my mouth again.

"C-can I come in?" I asked softly, hating the way I stuttered.

I could see X gulp, and all he managed was a small nod. He carefully stepped aside, allowing me to enter easily. Once I was in, he closed the door again, and just stood there. I could _feel_ his eyes on me, but I didn't dare to look at him right now. I had to gather my thoughts for a moment. I had to figure out what to say to him, and I had to make sure I didn't say the wrong thing.

I gulped a little once I felt like I could face X again, so I turned and did just that.

X was clutching my shirt tightly against his chest, like it was really all that kept him alive. I really got this urge to just walk up to him and just hug him, telling him it was going to be alright, that everything would be okay again. But I wasn't planning to give in, yet. First things first.

"Look, X, about Iris…"

I think that was the wrong thing to say as I noticed him flinch, before he began to shake, quite visibly. His grip on my shirt tightened, and right then, he reminded me of a distressed little kid, hugging a plush animal close to him.

I bit my lip, weighing my words carefully, before allowing them to escape.

"X… there's nothing going on between her and me. I just… I just had the strangest feeling like I saw her somewhere before. Like… like… uh…"

Oh crap. I couldn't remember what I'd been planning to say.

"Oh heck… I'm not good with this…"

X surprised me when he giggled, a small smile crossing over his face as he pulled up the shirt to hide it. He seemed to enjoy seeing me frustrated over something so easy as saying what's on your mind.

Normally, had he been anyone else, I would've blown up, but X is just… well… he's different, that's all there is to it.

And besides, the tension became less now, and I wasn't complaining.

"X…" I started again, "look… I'm sorry about what happened, but I just needed to figure out where I saw Iris before, and… well…"

I trailed off, and pretended to look around, as if to check if no one else was there. It got the desired reaction and X looked at me with expecting and curious eyes, almost begging me to continue. I know X was easily interested in anything that might seem to be the world's biggest secret, and he'll most likely do anything to learn it.

I pulled the picture from my pocket, and handed it to X, whispering: "Check _this _out!"

He gingerly took the picture from my hand, his hand lightly shaking, took one look at the picture… and quickly muffled his laughter with my shirt. I smiled at the reaction and walked up to beside him, looking at the picture with him.

"Just happened to walk past the book-store. Was lying right in front of me."

He smiled up at me, his eyes shining with so many emotions that I couldn't possibly sort them out. But as I looked down at him, I saw the tear-streaks still on his face. I knew it was a little late for it, but I could just tell by looking at him that he _needed_ it. So I gently pulled him against me, and gently embraced him.

Little rascal nuzzled his face into my shoulder, and gave a soft sigh, not saying anything.

Let's see… that had been a good 10 months ago, and right now, we're back to being friends again. Iris still plagued me from time to time, but hell, see if I care about her!

Well ANYWAY!!! That was over and done with, but that didn't mean trouble ended for me. It'd been a quiet day, and if I know X, which I did very well, he was most likely just loafing around. Not me, though. I was busy working on some paperwork that was due somewhere that afternoon. I know, not the best time to do stuff like that, but I always tend to leave the most important stuff until the last second. X always tells me to do it the second I get it, and I always tell him I will, but I end up not doing it anyway.

Like I said, it was way too quiet, and no one was expecting any Maverick attack anytime soon. The last Maverick attack had been two days ago, so everyone knew they had to recuperate. I knew that as well, but X seemed to have his doubts, don't know why though.

But as I already said, people weren't expecting an attack… and three guesses what happened.

Yup. We got attacked. Or… well… not us, but you know what I mean! Luckily, it wasn't anyone we knew (yeah, I'm talking Sigma here shudder), but they still had a single goal in mind.

They were attacking Gate's old lab.

Even though it had been meant to be destroyed, people ended up rebuilding it instead. And looks like those damn Mavericks didn't really like the idea.

X, Axl and myself were sent to take them out. We headed out in a hurry, destroying any Maverick we encountered. But it was rather odd though…those Mavericks weren't really attacking anything in particular. Instead they just seemed to be looking for something.

"This is crazy!" I mumbled. "What the heck are those guys looking for?!"

"No idea," X said. "But whatever they're looking for can't be good when they get their dirty claws on it."

Axl was silent, unable to add anything to it, for the moment. In any case, we kept moving on, and as we did, it became apparent that something was seriously wrong around the place, but what?

After several minutes of non-stop walking and destroying Mavericks, we come to an area that was completely abandoned. No doubt about it that that was the place we battled Gate during the 6th War. Though I found it peculiar that no one was even there, as the rest of the place was crowded with them.

"All right, NOW where are those damned bastards!?" I demanded.

"Maybe they all went somewhere else?" Axl offered and I noticed X rolling his eyes at that.

I gave a soft sigh, and was about to move, when X yelped out. I looked over to him, and my eyes widened in horror when I noticed X's leg stuck into the ground.

"What the?!" X cried out, trying to pull his leg loose again, but no such luck.

"X?! What the heck is--?!"

"I don't know alright?! Just get me out of here!!"

Both Axl and myself began to help X yank his foot out, but it didn't help at all. In fact, he only seemed to be sinking further and further into the ground. But even so, we wouldn't stop and just kept trying.

Still… I soon realized it wouldn't help at all…

Maybe I could contact Alia to help.

"Crud, this isn't helping!" I mumbled. "I'm gonna--ACK!!"

Reason for that exclamation? I just figured out I was stuck as well!

I looked up, just to see X try to push himself up again, being already waist-deep into the ground. His arms suddenly passed straight through the ground, and he was gone within a second.

"X!!!" Axl and I cried in horror.

I tried to get loose, but cursed in anger when my leg wouldn't budge.

"Axl!! Give me a hand here!!"

Axl hurried over and took both my hands, pulling at me with all his might. I tried to step forward, but my other leg also sank into the ground because of that. I couldn't stop cursing, trying to yank myself free as Axl continue to pull, practically pulling my arms out of joint.

That was about when I noticed the ground underneath Axl's feet.

"Axl! Move!! Hurry!!" I shouted.

Axl yelped in fright and leaped back quickly --- only to get stuck himself.

"Crap!!"

"Ack!! W-w-what's going on!?"

I tried to twist and turn myself loose, cursing loudly, just for the hell of it. In the end, it didn't help anything as I followed X to wherever this trip would take us. I gave a yell of surprise as I was flung down a massive tube of flashing lights, before crashing into a wall at the end.

"OUCH!!! GODDAMMIT!!" I screamed in anger, rubbing the back of my head.

That really hit home, and it really made my skull ache and pound. And the world was spinning faster than it was supposed to. I shook my head once, and looked around.

First thing I noticed was that I was alone. X was nowhere in sight. For a moment, I wondered if he had been sent somewhere else, but then I shook it off and got up. No reason to think like that until I was sure. So, I started making my way through wherever I was.

By the looks of it, it was some kind of office complex, though I wouldn't want whoever painted the walls here to come paint at MHHQ. All the walls were dark-red with splotches of black on them. Like someone had chucked several gallons of black paint all over the walls, instead of trying to actually paint.

Tapping a finger to the side of my head I mumbled something equal to "all those painters are nutters", before moving onward.

After turning several corners though, I came to a fork, heading straight ahead, up, and down. I looked down each road, but concluded the same with each; namely, there was no way to know what to expect until you walked it.

I finally shrugged, and made to move down the way straight ahead…

…When I got the barrel of a Buster jammed against the back of my head.

Uh-oh…

"I suggest you don't move, unless you want me to blow your frickin' head off," a cold voice said from behind me, but at such tone, that I couldn't disobey.

There was no way I could reach for my saber fast enough without the guy blowing me to pieces so that left me thinking about what I was supposed to do. So, I did as the guy said and didn't move. I liked my circuits the way they were, thank you very much.

"Laze! Get over here!!" the guy shouted, making me blink.

'Laze'?? Who the hell was that?

"Yes, X? Something wrong?" a woman's voice asked, and I tensed.

What the heck?! Why does X have his Buster to my head!? But… now that I thought about it, he didn't sound like X. At first I thought it was coincidence, but then I shook it off. How many Reploids are named 'X', after all?

"This guy," 'X' said, jabbing his Buster into the back of my head harshly ("Ouch!"). "Check 'im."

"All right."

I suddenly felt something trickling in the back of my mind, and it was becoming clearer and clearer with every second that passed. A number of memories flashed rapidly before my eyes, dizzying me a bit, before it stopped as fast as it came.

"And?" the guy behind me asked.

"…I think he's from something Zeal would called a parallel world."

"………'xcuse me??"

"X, lower your Buster for God's sake. _I'm_ supposed to be the trigger-happy Reploid around here!"

…????

"Alright, alright, sheez…"

The pressure from the back of my head disappeared quickly, but before I could turn around, a female-Reploid stepped up around me. Her armor was a deep red with silver edges and under it, she wore a light green jumpsuit, and there was a light blue triangular gem on her chest. Her hands were gloveless. Her hair was gold blonde, much like my own, and her eyes were sapphire blue. From what I could tell at least, as the left half of her face was hidden beneath her fringe.

"Sorry about that," she said, smiling up at me. "And I'm sure X is too. Right, X?" she added, looking around me.

I turned a bit, and my eyes widened in shock.

The Reploid standing there really _did_ look like X, but he still didn't look the exact same. His armor was dark gray, while his jumpsuit was about two shades lighter. The gem on his forehead is a lot brighter, and the joints at his knees, elbows, wrists, and his neck were just a shade darker than the gem. And then there was his face.

Well, the first thing that caught my attention were his eyes. They were a deep bloodruby-red, and burning with a fire so intense it could just burn your eyes out.

He scoffed, and put one hand on his hip, glaring at me, nearly making me shudder.

"Can it, Laze."

I looked over to the woman, who rolled her eyes (or the one I could see, at least). She shook her head, then looked at me.

"In any event, I'm Laze. Let's head to MHHQ. Zeal's going to want to see you."

"Huh?? Who??"

"You'll see her when we get there."


	3. Peculiar

**Chapter 3 Axl's POV: Peculiar**

Oy… There goes another set of Hunters. I chuckled a bit as I saw the duo crash into each other, sending the forms sailing through the air, before landing everywhere in the hallway. Heh, snow in July.

Still, I couldn't help feel a bit empty. I really wanted to join with the Hunters, but after Red Alert, I wasn't so sure of it anymore. So much has happened over the last few weeks, and it's kept me thinking. Thinking about all kinds of things, but mostly about Red Alert

There are only a few people… scratch that… Zero is the only who knows that I really miss Red Alert. Not those guys we um… mauled… but the original Red Alert. Some of the best friends I ever had. They were retired by Mavericks though.

You know… back when they were in charge of things, we weren't really a big corporation. Not yet, anyway. However, they didn't find it necessary. As long as they could do their jobs; a.k.a. hunt down Mavericks.

The Head Commander back then had been someone named Sorum. He was a nice guy, but I didn't rightfully know him that much. He was always stuck in his office when he wasn't out hunting Mavericks. He had his food served there, his room was just on the opposite side of the hall, so, no, I didn't always have to deal with him.

The others however…

Flare was a fire-based Reploid, as his name tends to give away. And he's got a bad temper to boot. If you didn't watch what you were saying around him, you'd be BBQ-ed before you'd know what happened. He had this HUGE flame-thrower he used to fry Mavericks, but usually, at the base, he was out of armor, so we didn't have to worry about him setting anything on fire. Not that he didn't succeed at that, if I may add.

Let's see… Oh yeah, Slash. He was a pretty nice guy. Pretty much the 'sharpest tool in the box'. Quite literally. Didn't mean he was a badass. Well, maybe a smartass at some points, but it's something you get used to over time. Slash was one of my better friends during that time. I spent a lot of time with him, as he taught me pretty much everything. Not just fighting, but also different aspects about life itself, you know. So… yeah, you could say I enjoyed his company.

Not as much as Rose's though.

Oh yeah…… Rose. She'd been my um… well… first (and so far only) girl I fell in love with. I have no idea if she thought the same about me, as she was killed during a Maverick attack. One that Red had sent her to. Sorum had been killed by that time, and Red had taken over. Anyway, back to Rose. She was a doll, not literally, of course, but figuratively speaking. It makes you wonder why someone like her would want to help us kill Mavericks. Then again, I guess we all had our own reasons, even though we never told those to anyone else.

Rose was different from the others though. She actually had sympathy to all, even Mavericks. Then again, she was a Catholic, so that could've helped her with that. After every battle, she would go pray to God. I never really listened to what she said, mainly because she talked so softly it couldn't be heard.

The only thing I kept hearing from her when she prayed was: "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned."

I'd prayed along with her a few times… or at least… I tried. I did as she did and whispered what I had done, as I later learned she'd been doing the whole time, but I couldn't help but feel like it wouldn't help.

Could be it was just me, of course. I'm a bit of realist, so it's a tad hard for me to believe in a higher power above us. I wasn't about to deny it to others though if they believed in it. Still, whenever I tried to pray, it just wouldn't work out. This single thought kept popping up in my mind every time I did.

"God has not created man, but man has created God."

I read that in some kind of book. And… I have to say, it makes sense. I mean, be reasonable; if humans had not been around, there would've been no God, but because some people refuse to dominant, about anything, they create a higher power. It makes sense to me, but it really doesn't have to for you.

Slash also thought that way, but he tended to blurt that kind of things out.

And whenever he got in trouble, all he'd say was: "Yeah, whatever."

That alone seemed to be able to get him out of any situation. Don't ask how, but it did.

The five of us were the best team anyone could imagine. No matter what the situation, we'd always get out of it if we just worked together. Because that's what being in a team is all about; teamwork. My time with Red Alert wasn't all about roses (keep in mind, that pun was NOT intended to be), but the time with Sorum and the rest of the team could be considered the best of it all.

When Red showed up, taking over when Sorum was killed, everything changed. We began to fall apart, slowly, and Red was the one causing it. He seemed to be determined to break us up, though even now, I still don't understand why. And one by one, my friends were killed.

I should've run back then, but I didn't dare. After all, where would I have gone? Basically, I would've been a homeless Reploid, and if there's one thing humans won't take in anywhere, it's homeless people, especially Reploids.

The only thing I'd wanted for time to turn back and allow me to change everything. But time doesn't listen to anyone. It just keeps going, not stopping at all for anyone. Especially me.

Sometimes I think there's something wrong with me; that I'm a bad luck charm or something. I know, it's a stupid thought, but it sometimes really seems that way. Though I guess, in a way, it can be considered a good thing, as it keeps me on edge, ready for just about everything.

I can't rightfully say I like it, but it's better than dying, I guess.

I noticed X walking by, but he seemed a bit distracted. I almost opened my mouth in a greeting, then though better of it and shut up.

X for some reason… well… let's say we aren't really on good terms. I want to be, but X doesn't want to, I guess. It's almost like I disgust him, with the way he keeps throwing me those distasteful glances when he probably thinks I can't see. But I don't need to _see_ them. Maybe someone should tell him that that glare of his makes anyone feel puny. He doesn't glare often, only when it seems to concern me.

That makes me feel a bit… well… more aware of myself. I just want him to see me as someone who can _at least_ do things right. But I just seem to do _everything_ wrong. Or at least, in X's eyes; there's always _something_ wrong with me, no matter what I do.

I wish I could hate him for it, but I respect him too much for that. That doesn't mean I actually want to get in his pants, you sickos!! Eesh… Anyway, I'm not the only one who can't hate X though. Zero told me he respected his friend as well, but that they were no more than close friends, even though they acted more like brothers, Zero acting the eldest and X being the kid brother. No shock there, ne?

And as for Zero… I know he's been trying to get X to at least be civil to me, but it hasn't had any effect at all. I guess he's about as confused as I am about X's strange behavior. Zero already told me it wasn't like X to be like that to people. I know those two are best friends, and even though I know Zero wants X and I to be friends as well, I can't allow myself to stand in the way of their friendship.

Though sometimes… I really wish I had someone to care for, or someone to care for me. Both would be appreciated too, of course. But hey, how big's the chance that'll happen?

Very small, I can assure you that.

Though of course, it can't hurt to dream, right?

You know, I heard somewhere that if you wish on a falling star, and don't tell anyone about it, your wish will come true. That's why I've been sitting on the roof for the past few weeks, _after_ curfew, hoping to catch a glimpse of a shooting star.

But nothing. Not one.

Of course, I didn't expect to see any, but I didn't bother with it for too long.

But still, it would be nice if I could at least find someone, with or without one of those stars. I didn't bother if it was just in the form of someone like a brother/sister to me or… well… you get the idea.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when the alarms suddenly started blaring. I blinked, twice, before dashing off as fast as I could toward the war-room.

When I got there, I saw that X and Zero were already there, listening to Signas' _very_ boring speech. Glad that had actually gotten in late, I quietly stepped up to beside Zero, pretending that I'd been there the entire time. I am NOT going to repeat what Signas had said, so I'll keep it brief;

They were attacking Gate's old lab.

I never met this Gate, but from what Zero told me, Gate went bonkers when he tried deciphering Zero's DNA. Don't ask how that happened, I wasn't around MHHQ around that time. Anyway, Gate's lab had been meant to be destroyed, people ended up rebuilding it instead. And looks like those damn Mavericks didn't really like the idea.

Zero, X and myself were sent to take them out. We headed out in a hurry, destroying any Maverick we encountered. The oddest part about it all was that the Mavericks weren't attacking anything in particular, and instead seemed to be searching for something.

"This is crazy!" Zero mumbled. "What the heck are those guys looking for?!"

I wasn't the least bit bothered by Zero's language. I was used to it at Red Alert.

"No idea," X said. "But whatever they're looking for can't be good when they get their dirty claws on it."

I didn't bother to say anything. What was there to add anyway? Zero and X both summed up this entire situation perfectly. We kept moving onward, destroying any Maverick in our path. As we did, it became terribly obvious that something was seriously wrong.

Of course, if you asked me what, I wouldn't have been able to answer.

After several minutes of non-stop walking and destroying Mavericks, we come to an area that was completely abandoned. I looked around the room, noting that the place was pretty much totaled, almost like there had been an intense battle here quite some time ago. No idea what happened here, but I didn't really bother with it. I did find it odd that this place was deserted, as the rest of the place seemed to be crowded with Mavericks and drones.

"All right, NOW where are those damned bastards!?" Zero demanded.

"Maybe they all went somewhere else?" I offered, though I knew very well that it was a very lame thing to say.

I wasn't the only one who thought that, as I could see X roll his eyes, though I pretended that I didn't see. I didn't want to know what X would do if he knew I saw that.

As I took another glance around the room, X suddenly let out a yelp. I whipped my head around to face him, and I gasped in shock when I noticed X's leg stuck into the ground.

"What the?!" X cried out, trying to pull his leg loose again, but it didn't help in the least.

"X?! What the heck is--?!"

"I don't know alright?! Just get me out of here!!"

Zero and I tried to help X to yank his foot out, but it really didn't help at all. In fact, it was as if he was sinking further and further into the ground with every second, whether we were helping him or not. Even so, we wouldn't stop trying and just kept pulling.

I wasn't willing to let X die like that. No way.

"Crud, this isn't helping!" Zero mumbled. "I'm gonna--ACK!!"

I whirled around, and my eyes widened as I saw that Zero was now also stuck. I turned back to X, just to see him try to push himself up again, being already waist-deep into the ground. His arms suddenly passed straight through the ground, and he was gone within a second

"X!!!" Zero and I cried in horror.

Zero tried to move, but his leg wouldn't budge, making him curse in anger.

"Axl!! Give me a hand here!!"

I nodded and hurried over, taking both his hands in my own, before starting to pull at him with all my might. Zero tried to step forward, but his other leg also sank into the ground because of that. He wouldn't stop cursing as I kept on pulling, knowing that I could fairly well pull his arms out of joint, but I wasn't about to let the same thing happen to Zero.

"Axl! Move!! Hurry!!" Zero suddenly shouted, making me look down to my feet.

I yelped in fright as the ground shifted beneath me, and I leaped back quickly --- only to get stuck myself!!

"Crap!!"

"Ack!! W-w-what's going on!?"

Zero was twisting and turning his entire body, trying to get loose as I pulled at my legs. He was cursing wildly, probably pissed off as hell. In the end, it didn't help anything as Zero followed X to wherever he had gone.

"ZERO!!!" I cried out, though it didn't help a bit.

I wish I could've said I kept my cool, but I'd be lying.

As much as I tried to get loose, I only seemed to be sinking further into the ground, almost like there was something pulling me down. But I have no idea what could be pulling me down, and the only way to find out was to let myself be pulled.

Not the best choice, but what else could I do?

So instead of resisting any further, I relaxed, as best as I could, and allowed myself to be pulled. It seemed to go a lot faster when I didn't resist, and before I could even yelp, I was sent careering down some kind of tube. I would've cried out if my throat hadn't suddenly constricted. I tried to swallow, but I found that I couldn't. I had closed my eyes against the bright colors flashing by me, not wishing to go blind.

Next thing I know is landing right on a chair, which topples over as I land on it, sending it, and me, to the ground, with me yelping in surprise. I groan as I look up at the ceiling… or what's left of it at least.

I blinked in surprise, watching the dark clouds moving across the dark sky, but I could also see the sun, and that didn't make any sense… right? I mean… the sky is dark, but the sun's out… that's… impossible… right?

I slowly push myself up, looking around the room equally slow. There's a strange, pungent smell in the air, and as I look around, I notice that the lights are blinking on and off, but they barely lit the room, so they weren't really necessary.

As I tried to stand up, my hand suddenly slipped, but I just managed to keep my balance. I blinked, and held up my hand… after which I tried not to puke.

My entire hand was covered with dark red and black liquids, and by its scent I could easily determine that it was blood and oil. I took another look around, and realized that the entire floor and the walls were painted red and black. The desks in the room were shattered, but there were no signs of bodies anywhere.

I did the best I could to try and keep my stomach under control as I slowly rose to my feet, not wishing to slip and fall on my rear. I gulped a bit, trying to keep my lunch down in my stomach.

"I _KNEW_ I shouldn't have eaten that lasagna before going out…" I mumbled, trying to keep said meal in my stomach.

As I walked, I had to gulp several times, my lunch threatening to come up with almost every step I took. I have no idea what did this, but I hope that I don't have a run-in with it. Of course, knowing my luck, that's exactly what would happen.

The boots I wore made slight sloppy noises as I walked through the blood and oil, and I gulped again.

This place… I don't know where I ended up, but all I wanted was to get out! It was driving me paranoid!

As I moved on, I just couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. That wasn't as bad as what followed, because it soon turned into a feeling of being followed.

Being watched, I can deal with, being followed, no.

I gulped once more and pulled out my Copy-Shot, looking around carefully. My fusion tank was working overtime, making my breathing harsh and ragged. My eyes were darting around everywhere, trying to spot whoever was out there. But the darkness of the room, as well as the darkened sky (which STILL doesn't make any sense) made it almost impossible to see anything waving its hands in front of my face.

All right, I'm exasperating a bit, but you get the idea.

My tank was now pounding in my ears so loudly that I wouldn't be surprised if anyone else who could be in the nearby vicinity (say, three miles) heard it. I looked all around, seeing nothing and no one, but the feeling didn't leave. It was there in the back of my mind, taunting me as if saying; 'catch me if you can' in a childish singsong voice.

With both my guns in hand, I looked around effectively, while all the while moving through the room, trying to get myself under control. A sudden sound from behind me had me whirling around and firing a shot before I knew what I did. The bullet struck one of the desks, bouncing off the metal plates and landing on the ground harmlessly. I panted harshly, the thought barely penetrating through my fear-clouded mind.

I know, I was acting paranoid, but I couldn't help it! Even though this place was fairly wide in diameter, the blood and oil on the walls made it all seem so much smaller.

And it just so happens that I'm claustrophobic!

I held a fisted hand (still holding my gun) to the place my tank's located, trying to calm myself by feeling its beat. Usually, that tends to help me calm down. And it helped, as I managed to even my breathing out at least a little. It was still ragged, but not as bad as before.

After a few agonizing seconds, I finally got myself to move again, walking down the hallway and looking for anything living (and not intent to kill me gulp).

I kept my guns out, still not trusting the place a bit. My eyes darted around cautiously, as I tried not to be caught off guard. For a long time, I simply moved quietly, afraid that I might give away my position.

Didn't seem to matter, as I kept having the feeling I was being followed.

I looked around carefully, gulping a bit. This was really starting to get creepy.

My guns were aimed straight in front of me, as I turned slowly, trying to stop my hands from shaking.

A sudden sizzling sound brought me to alert, and I stood frozen for a long time as it drew closer. I had heard that sound before, and it wasn't a good sound.

I ducked quickly, right before I could get my head lashed off by a beam-saber lashing out sideways where my neck had been seconds earlier. I cried out in fright and turned quickly, firing blindly at whatever tried that. A painful grunt signaled I hit, but I didn't stop to celebrate. I leapt up and ran, whereto, I don't know, but I just ran.

I knew that I couldn't stop, for if I stopped, that'd guy'd get to me and I would be as good as dead. I didn't look back as I did; I just kept on running, my fusion-tank pumping furiously, and I almost thought it'd pop right out of my chest.

I could hear him behind me, and he was rapidly getting closer. I dashed whenever I could, trying my best not to get lost in the maze of corridors (not like I wasn't already, but hey). I dived into another corridor, and stopped dead in my tracks.

A dead-end…

"Shit…" I squeaked, looking around.

It was nothing but a big room in about the same condition as the last, but it was smaller. I whirled around, planning to leave the room and take another corridor…

But I was already too late…

I paled as the swordfighter stepped into the room, his beam-saber the only light in the room, and barely lighting up anything, much less show what he looked like. I cautiously backed up, practically shaking in fear and my tank bumping violently against my chest.

"ACK!!!"

Reason for that? I tripped over a chair and landed on my rear…

"Owie…" I mumbled, rubbing my backside, wincing a bit…

Only to look up and have a purple beam-saber nearly touching my nose.

I yelped and fell over, now lying completely on the ground, my face probably showing nothing but fear. I was pretty much scared stiff, not daring to even pick up my guns, which weren't really that far away from me.

It escaped me entirely, as the only thing I had eyes for was the dark purple saber hovering mere inches above me. I shuddered, feeling the heat emanating from it, knowing it could easily kill me without a second wasted.

But instead, the swordfighter moved it slowly across my face, making sure not to touch my face, like he was… examining me by using his saber as a light. I kept still, not wanting to risk getting my face torn open.

"…Who are you?"

Wasn't me asking that. It was that guy standing over me, but the funny thing is… his voice seemed almost familiar.

I blink a tad bit, then stammered: "A-A-Axl P-P-Past, s-s-sir."

The guy hummed, as if finding that interesting. Finally, he moved the saber away, but instead brought it over to his own illuminating his features…

…I think I cried out in surprise back then.

"Z-Zero?!!?" I asked, shocked out of my wits.

This guy, he looked exactly like Zero… but his eyes were… they were a blazing ruby-red, bright and wild with emotion, and his skin was a chalk-white.

A vicious smirk tugged on his face, before he shouted: "LIGHTS!!!"

I cried out in shock when my eyes were suddenly invaded by a large wave of light, quickly covering my eyes. A harsh laugh rang through my ears, and I frowned a bit. I could also tell that the lights were dimming and brightening, meaning they were probably busted. I removed my hands and was about to say something… but it never left my mouth.

He looked exactly the same as Zero, but his hair was a shimmering cornblond, and his entire armor was a pitch black. His jumpsuit on the other hand, was stark white, and all three gems he had were a deep blood red, much like the joints and those shiny gauntlets at his wrists.

Almost calmly, he twirled his saber around and sheathed it, looking at me with a sly smirk.

"So, you getting up anytime soon?" he suddenly asked, and I blinked.

A bit shakily, I tried to get up, only to tumble over almost immediately. A strong hand from behind me stopped me from doing so though.

"'Ey Elvor," the Zero-look-a-like said calmly, nodding.

I whirled around in surprise. Standing behind me was another Reploid, male, with red, spiked hair and piercing emerald green eyes, while his armor was dark blue hue with golden edges, and the jump-suit was a lighter shade of blue. A triangular gem rested on the center of his chest, and his hands were gloveless.

He offered a smile and nodded, then turned to the dark Reploid.

"Zero, what's going on around here?"

"I have no idea," the other said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm sure Zeal would know though…"

"…Huh??? Who??"

"You'll see her when we get back to HQ."


End file.
